Improved pepper-box



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

A. I-I. NEWTON, or WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED PEPPER-BOX.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. H. NEWTON, ot' Worcester, iuthe county ot' IVorcester and State ot' Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Im provementin Pepper and other Spice Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be ai'ull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot' this specification, in Which- Figure lis an elevation of avertical section of a pepper-box to which my invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is a top view ofthe box and cover. Fig. 3 is a section of the top of the box in the line y ot' Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the. neck B.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts. y

This invention consists in applying a valve in the cover or top of a spice-box in such away as that the valve will he open when the boxis turned for the purpose ot' sprinkling its contents through the pert'orationsiu its cover and be closed when the box is broughtback again, thereby preventing such contents from losing their strength by exposure to the air.

Pepper and other spice boxes which are made for culinary and table use are provided with perforated covers or tops, through which their contents are ejected in the same manner as our is dredged from adredgiug-hox. Since no diaphragmis provided belowthe perforated top, it follows that the contents are constantly open to the atmosphere, and they thereby soon become deteriorated in quality, or, in other words, lose their strength. This result will follow with more less rapidity in proportion to the activity with which the spice emits the odor peculiar to it. Besides this they are liable to become foul with dust which enters with the air through the perforations in the top.

My invention provides a remedy for these disadvantages; and it consists in placing a valve, D, in the neck or upper part ot` the box, which valve is so made and applied as to be automatic in its operation.

In this example Ihaveshown the upper part ofthe neck B as made separate from the lower part of the box, but itmay be a permanent part thereof.

Ou the upper edge of the neck or of the part B, I forni notches g, which serve as bearings for the Journals h of the valve.

The top C of the box iits over and is secured to the neck B by means ot' screw-threads or other suitable devices, and withinit I provide a shoulder, t', which covers the rim or highest part ofthe neck B, and thus covers the notches g and contines the journals of the valve in said notches. One side of the valve is loaded, as seen atf, and a semicircularledge, e, is made Within the neck B ou that side which receives the loaded side of the valve, so that the valve will be supported in a horizon tal position when the box stands on its bottom. In Fig. 1 the valve is shown raised from its seat to give a better view of the parts, although the box is therein also represented as standing upright.

In the top ot' the cover, in its inside, I form a pendent stop, j, whose office is to arrest the valve when the box is inverted and prevent it from making a complete revolution.

The operation is as follows: When one desires to sprinkle spice from the box, he in verts it, when the loaded Side of the valve will fall toward the cover O, against whose stopj it will rest. The valve will then stand nearly vertical, and the spice or other contents ot' the box is then free to pour out through the perforations in the cover. When the box is returned to its first position the loaded side of the valve will fall and rest on the ledge e, and the interior ot' the box will thus be shut off from the perforated top, and air and dust will be excluded.

This invention is applicable to all spice and other boxes whose covers or tops are perforated for the purpose of sprinkling their contents through their covers, and it is therefore applicable to all dredging-boxes. It is also applicableto bottles containingliquids, andis especially useful where such liquids are volatile. It is also applicable to bott-les or cruets containing pepper-sauce and Worcestershire and other volatile sauces, which, by my invention, can be obtained in limited or graduated quantities, and yet without a constant exposure to the air.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The use of a valve beneath the top or cover of spice boxes and bottles to exclude air from their contents when in a state ot' rest, substantially'as above described.

A. H. NEWTON.

Witnesses:

J. E. DAVIS, DWIGHT T. BEEWSTER. 

